Pump dispensers for dispensing pharmaceutical products in fluid form must deliver prescribed dosages with high accuracy.
Some pharmaceutical products are formulated as suspensions of particulate matter in fluids or as mixtures of liquids of different densities.
When pharmaceutical pump dispensers are used to dispense such formulations, the solids and similarly the higher density fluids tend to settle to the bottom of the dispenser pump chamber. To prevent improper delivery of the product, the user is instructed to actuate the dispenser several times before use in order to assure proper suspension or proper mixture. However, the user may fail to follow the instructions and the formulation may be delivered improperly, with unpleasant and even dangerous results.
The present invention is directed toward a new type of pharmaceutical dispenser for fluid suspensions or mixtures of fluids of different densities in which a first actuation of the dispenser automatically mixes the precipitate and fluid or fluids of different densities and produces and dispenses a proper fluid suspension or mixture without burdening the user with instructions which may not be followed.